Process of making oleomargarine



' mass Patented Mar. 24, 1 925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.-

CHARLES E. NORTH, OF MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOB TO THE MILK OILCOR- PORATION, 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PROCESS OF MAKING OLEOMARGARINE.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES E. NORTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Montclair, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of MakingOleomargarine, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

The marketable value of oleomargarine or other butter substitutesdepends in large measure upon their similarity in texture and physicalappearance to natural butter, but the conversion of beef tallow or'other fats used for such purposes into a granular having the predominantcharacteristics of butter is a problem involving a number ofdifficulties. The purification of such fats requires them to be meltedinto an oil. Their conversion into a substance resembling butter alsomakes it necessary to melt them at temperatures which reduce them to thecondition of homogeneous oils.

Various expedients have been practiced for converting such oils intobutter substitutes having the granular texture characteristics ofnatural butter, one of which involves the use'of emulsifying machines asthe first step, to produce an *emulsion of the fat globules. It has,however, been found that while the oil can be reduced to the conditionof small fat globules by the use of mechanical emulsifying machines, thefat percentage of such emulsions is low, far below, in fact, the fatpercentage of 80% characteristic of ordinary butter.

In the butter industry the fat concentra-' tion in cream which is to bechurned is universally accepted as not greater than 35%, and inproducing emulsions of other fats this percentage has, in consequence,been adopted in all attempts to churn such fats where the same processesare followed'as in the churning of cream to make butter. But, by reasonof the differences in the melting point, the hardness of these otherfats and the failure of emulsifyingmachines to produce fat globules ofuniform size, ordinary churning processes have not proved commerciallysuccessful in effecting age glomeration ing the texture and theappearance of natural butter.

Another expedient adopted by the manufacturers of oleomargarine andother butter of fat, globules into masses hav-' Application filed April23, 1924. Serial N0.-. 7O8,570.

substitutes in order to secure the texture characteristic of naturalbutter, has been to direct fine streams or jets of hot melted fat intocold water or cold skim milk, which results in the congealing of .suchstreams into solid threads or strings which, when pressed together, givea texture somewhat resembling that of butter.

My present invention resides in an improved method of makingoleomargarine or other butter substitutes which haveall thecharacteristics of natural butter without the use of any churning and ina very simple and economical manner. This consists in melting fat or,preferably, a mixture of milk fat or oil and such other fat as may beuseduntil it is brought to the condition of a. homogeneousoil, andthenemulsifying this oil. By this means I have found that the fatconcentration of such emulsions may be greatly in excess of the 35% orthat which has heretofore been adopted as the standard, and in fact maybe above 60%.

My objectin making the fat concentrations as high as possible is tobring the surfaces of the fat globules closer together than they are inordinary creams. .By my processes of emulsification I am enabled toglobules are very much closer together than they are in ordinary creamor emulsions of only 35%concentration.

I have discovered that melted beef fat in my process of makingoleomargarine may be quickly and easily emulsified in either of twogeneral ways. I may, for example,

add to the melted "fat a relatively small amount .of dry skim milkpowder and by simple mixing followed by the addition of small quantitiesof water, a thick paste emulsion is formed containing a fatconcentration ofmore than 60%. Or I may mix with the melted fat milk ormilk fluid in the, proportions of 60% or more of the fat and 40% o rless of the milk fluid, and pass this mixture through an ordinaryemulsinary butter making. .The time required. to tying machine with theresultlng productransform the chilled paste into a substance tion-ofthick emulsion. resembling butter is only afew minutes.

In either case the Viscosity of the concen- As another way of producingthe emulsion trated emulsion is greatly increased on cool- I may combine6 parts of the melted fat mixing, owing to the congealing of the fat.ture with 4 parts of milk fluid, under which As the temperatureapproaches 55% the term I include any milk, natural or artifie fatchanges from a liquid to a semi-solid or cial, and pass this mixturethrough an emultion of simple pressure or squeezing. It is ture goesdown to 55 F. to produce a mass same way with the same results.

waxy form in which condition the fat globsifying machine, with the.result that a thick ules have a tendency to agglomerate it viscous fluidis'produced. Such an emulsion brought into contact and they may bereadmay then be treated in the manner above de-' ily brought into suchcontact by the applicascribed to produce the final product. f

4 Other fats" than beef tallow or fat have only necessary, therefore, toplace the emulbeen adopted in this industry for the manusion in a vesselsurrounded by cold water facture of butter substitutes, but so far asand to stir or rub the same as the tempera- I have observed these maybetreated in th of fat having the same granular texture that What I claimis:

is characteristic of butter, such agglomera- 1. Theprocess herein setforth, of making tion being attended by the discharge of most buttersubstitutes whichconsist in \rnelting of the buttermilk or water. Themass may the fat employed to the condition of a then be worked, flavoredor salted in the homogeneous oil, forming an emulsion of same waypracticed in the making of butter. high iatroncentration of such oilwith the It is desirable, of course, that any butter emulsifyingingredients of milk, cooling the substitute should have as much of abutter emulsion to a temperature at which the fat flavor as possible,and hence in carrying out globules have a tendency to agglomerate andthis process I use milk oil in addition to the at, such temperaturebringing the said globbeef or other fat, not only on account of the ulesby simple pressure or squeezing ,into better flavor which it imparts,but for the Conta t withone another. purpose of reducing the meltingpoint of 2- The PrOCQSS hereln Set f0rth, 0f the fat in the mixture.Specifically de- 111g v scribed, the process is as follows: r ngmg oge 1i and a i b e I bring together parts of beef tallow fat, melting themlxture to form a homoor beef fat and 20 parts of milk or butter gIlBOuS 011, fprmlng an 811111181011 of high fat and melt them until theyare transfat concentration of such oil and the emul-' formed into ahomogenous oil. To 7 parts slfymg 'lg d ents 0f mllk, cooling the ofthis oil I th n add 1 art; of d ki ,emulsion to a temperature at wh chthe fat milk powder and in a jacketed vessel which g Q s have a ndencyto agglomerate keeps th t mp r t above 100 F, th and at such temperatureproducing their agtwo are stirred by any ordinary means until g ratl nby sunple pressure or squeezthoroughly mixed. Continuing-the stirring gpI 3 parts of warm Water are gradually added T P here"! f cd, 3 i unt-ila thick paste emulsion is formed. It 1 g butter Substltlltes WhlchCOIlSlStS 1n heatis obvious thatthe fat concentration of the g the fatspl y t mperature Sufemulsion will b b t 60% d' 7()%,' ficient to convertthem nto a homogeneous The mixture is then gradually'cooled to P g h8112311 011 and h mulslfybetween 65 and 55 F. within which range. g g dn ofmllk an Qm'lllSlOn Of a fat the paste will have become much morefloncentration over 60%, stirring and coolviscous and stiff by thechange of the fat g the a e a p re BI W F- globules from a liquidto asemi-solid form. and fi g an agglomeration of When in this conditionsimple pressure or Partlcles at such temperature y PI'eSSure mak-squeezing by means of a paddle or roller will q gcause the globules tostick together and ag- In testinflonyv whereof I hereto aflix yglomerate and the excess butter milk to be slgnaturedischarged,whereupon the mass may be washed, salted and worked as is done in ordi-CHARLES E. NORTH.

butter substitutes which consists in M

